Disqualified from the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been sent a notice by the Lok Sabha House Committee to vacate his Parliament-allotted bungalow by 22nd April.
Gandhi has been asked to vacate 12, Tughlaq Lane occupied by him and given a 30-day notice period to vacate the premises to avoid eviction. The Congress leader was convicted in a criminal defamation case by a Surat court on 23rd March, and has to vacate the house by 22nd April.
A communication from a Lok Sabha Secretariat (M. S. Branch) official to Gandhi on Monday quoted the Lok Sabha Secretary-General’s notification on his disqualification on 24th March, and said “Consequent upon your disqualification/cessation from the Membership of 17th Lok Sabha with effect from 23.03.2023,” he could retain the bungalow along with its units for a maximum period of one month i.e. up to the 22nd April “on the similar terms and conditions as were applicable as a Member immediately before your disqualification from your seat in Lok Sabha.”
“The allotment of the aforesaid accommodation shall deem to have been cancelled with effect from 23.04.2023,” the communication said.
Constituted by the Lok Sabha speaker, the House Committee deals with the residential accommodation and other amenities for Members.
According to a Lok Sabha publication, “Every Member is entitled to a licence-fee free flat or hostel accommodation throughout the Member’s term of office. Where a Member is allotted a housing accommodation in the form of a bungalow at the Member’s request, the Members shall pay full normal licence fee, if the Member is entitled to such accommodation.”
“Members of Lok Sabha or their families can retain Government Accommodation for a maximum period of one month after their retirement, resignation/removal, or ceasing to be a Member of Lok Sabha, on payment of the same rent, if any, which they were paying immediately before the occurrence of any of the events mentioned above,” the publication says.